Philippians 3: Living as Citizens of Heaven

Well, good morning, everybody. Come on. Let's thank the Lord as we've been praising the Lord together. What a joy it is to be able to gather and worship the name of God and exalt Him. So wherever you're watching, church here at Lakewood Ranch, all the campuses online, penitentiary, jails, when we do something, can we just greet one another as we do this in the name of the Lord? Glad you're here. We praise the Lord together. And my name is David, and I get the honor to teach God's Word today and under the leadership of Pastor Randy and Amy here at Bayside. So thank you for joining us. Thank you for being here today, and let me pray. I know that we've already been worshiping the Lord and honoring the Lord, and now we gather around His Word, and I pray the Holy Spirit will guide us. So let's pray together. Lord, thank You. Thank You. I pray that You are exalted today. Lord, wherever we are watching, listening, participating, Lord, may our ears be attentive, may our hearts be sensitive. Holy Spirit, have Your way. Teach us, encourage us, rebuke us, challenge us, build us up, Lord, to be the people You want us to be. We thank You, Lord, as we open Your Word. Thank You for this letter. Thank You that we have it written and the faithfulness from generation to generation that we can have it in a language that we can understand, but Holy Spirit, if You don't touch our hearts, if You don't manifest Your presence, it's worthless. So Lord, I pray that the seed that is sown today will be for Your glory.

In Jesus' name, amen and amen. I came to America when I was 23 years old on a tourist visa. I came for a couple of weeks. That visa allowed me certain freedoms for a period of time. Later that year, I came back with a J1 visa where I served at a kids' camp, Camp America, for a specific period of time, and I was given a little bit more freedom to work at that specific camp for that specific time, and then I had to return home. The year after that, or a couple of years after that, I came back with an F1 visa. An F1 visa is a student visa. It was connected to my studies at Dallas when I was studying at Dallas Seminary, and I had a lot more freedom, and I could work, but I had to work specifically connected to my area of studies in the area in Dallas at the time, and after my F1 visa finished, I had to return home. At that time is where I met Alicia, my now wife. She is an American citizen. We got married and moved back to Belfast, and we lived there for many years. Our kids were born there, and any time we would come here to America to see her parents, they all had American passports. I did not, and I don't know if you've ever traveled and come into America, but we are, those of us who have either a tourist visa or any other visas, we are called aliens. So I arrived, and I remember they took the passports, and I went with my family, actually to the American side, but because it was my family, and the guy looked at me, and he looked at the passports and said, which one is the alien? And I went, long flight, you know, working in the flesh, I went, I am. He wasn't happy. He nearly didn't let me in. After a long process, in the year 2010, after a long process, I got a green card through Alicia, and the Lord had called us to serve here in the States. Now the green card allowed me to work and live in the United States. I had more privileges, more responsibilities, I had more rights, but not all, because I

wasn't a citizen. In 2019, when I stood in front of a room full of people with a wee American flag, we had gone through the process of my civic duties, my good behavior, believe it or not, all the time we were married and friends and family turned up, and in 2019, I became a citizen of this nation that I now live in, and just for the proof, there it is. I don't know if you know this guy, but he was kitted out that day, Pastor Jordan, one of the other pastors here, Jordan. He was bellowing out the anthem. He was singing America. I mean, the place was, they were harmonizing. It was great. From that day on, I had all the rights, all the responsibilities, all the freedoms, all the privileges that this nation gives. Now, why do I tell you that? Because whether you are an alien, a student, a tourist, or a visa, or a green card holder, there were certain restrictions. I didn't have the full rights until I became a citizen. Citizenship of a nation means that you are under the rule, the reign, the order, the benefits, the responsibilities, and the privileges of said nation. You represent that nation wherever you go in the world. Today, I pray through the Holy Spirit, through His word, we are going to be encouraged, challenged, reminded, maybe even rebuked, to live as citizens of heaven. In Ephesians chapter 3, and not Ephesians, in Philippians chapter 3, the chapter that we're going to deal with today, because we're studying the book of Philippians,

we're going to see that you and I are called to be citizens of heaven. The rights, the responsibilities, the benefits of being a representative of the citizen of heaven on earth. And one of those characteristics is joy. And joy is the main theme of the book of Philippians. I know we're going to chapter 3 today, but let me give you just a quick summary for some of you. Chapter 1, Paul reminds us, if you live this way, the joy of Christ in you will be manifested. How does he say it? Thanking God for others, chapter 1, verse 3. Every time I think of you, I thank God. Having a thankful heart for others. Interceding for others. I pray for you. I pray for you, he says. Partnering in the gospel. When we partner in the gospel, because of our partnership in the gospel, you live this way. You thank God for people. You intercede and pray for people. You partner or serve with people. Joy, the joy of the Lord starts to get manifested. When a desire for the best of others, verse 6, he says, he who began a good work in you will, will complete it until the day of Christ's return. You live this way, the joy of the Lord will be evident in your life.

Show affection to one another. Verse 7 and 8, I have you in my heart with the affection of Christ. That's just a summary of the first seven verses, eight verses. Then he tells us how to pray for one another. Paul, in his joy, remember, he is writing this letter and he is under house arrest. He is not in a place where he would like to be. He has been teaching that Jesus is Lord and Savior and the Jewish and the Roman authorities didn't like that. So he was awaiting trial. But yet in that incarcerated place, in that place where he didn't have his freedoms, he writes with joy, remembering others. And then he reminds them to pray for one another. And this is how we pray. And this is how we are to pray, so that we will grow in love, we're told. So that we will grow in the knowledge and the insight of God. So that we would choose what his best is for you. This is his prayer. His prayer for the church, his prayer for you and I. That we would live in integrity in light of that. And that we would produce the fruit of God for the glory of God. This is the summary of chapter one. And then Paul tells us, oh my goodness, that we can actually show joy in spite of the difficulties,

in spite of the detractors, people who were saying, oh, I'm preaching Jesus. Paul was saying, as long as Jesus crucified is being preached. I don't care, he says. He says, in spite of death, that's that famous verse in verse 21, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. We live a life like this is it, this is not it. And when we live this life, is it? Of course we're miserable. But when we have our eyes on Christ, on the heaven, on who he is, then we can say, hey, in spite of whatever, in spite of death, I can have joy. In spite of the flesh, I can have joy. And then he challenges us in chapter one. He says, conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We get challenged, that's a challenge. But Paul doesn't leave us there. I love Paul, but Paul, oh my goodness, he gets under my skin. Because then in chapter two, he goes on, and we saw this last week, how we're told to have the joy of Christ. We are to be united in Christ. He says, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and mind. That's what he's challenging the church. And how do we do that?

Valuing others above yourselves. Do nothing out of selfishness. By the way, memorize that verse, tattoo this verse, get the shirt with this verse, get the bracelet with this verse. Do nothing, nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather inhumility, value others above yourselves. Not looking for your own interests, but the interests of others. Live this way, joy will come on. Then why? Because we're to follow Christ's example, and that's what Kristen was preaching about last week. The example of Christ, it says, have the same mindset of Christ Jesus. Then he tells us, well, because our response of believers, verses 12 to 18 in chapter 2, this is another one to remember, tattooed to your body, do everything without grumbling or arguing. Close your Bibles, let's go home, apply that. Do everything without grumbling or arguing. And then he gives us two examples, the example of Timothy and the example of Epaphroditus. See these names? See, when I get to heaven, I'm going to have to practice these names. Chapter 1 and 2 sets us up to what we're going to read today, that's why I give you this. Chapter 3, let's read it. I'm actually going to read the whole chapter, and then we're going to just draw out a few principles and then we're going to praise the Lord together. And if you think after I pray, you leave, that's not the end of the service. At the end of the service, we're going to praise together. The crescendo of the service is we're going to praise together about the joy of the Lord. So hold your Taco Bell or whatever until a minute, okay? Let's read chapter 3, chapter 3. Chapter 3 of Philippians 1, Philippians chapter 3, verse 1.

Further, my brothers, in light of what we've just read and seen last couple of weeks, rejoice in the Lord. Remember, let me remind you when he's writing this, he's on the house arrest, chained to centurions, centurions that don't allow him to do whatever he wants to do. But yet there's joy. Rejoice in the Lord. It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. I have never called anybody that. For it is we who are the circumcision. We who serve God by His Spirit, who boast in Jesus Christ, and who put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reasons for such confidence, and listen to this, if someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. Paul writes, this is the reason why, circumcised on the eighth day, the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, in regards to the law, a Pharisee. As for zeal, persecuting the church. As for righteousness, based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me, and I, and I consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more? I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, rubbish, scubalon, I'm going to come back to that word in a minute. That I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Not having a righteousness on my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ. Yes, I want to know the power of His resurrection, and participation in His sufferings, becoming

like Him in His death. And so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead, not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature, should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that to God. God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join together following my example, brothers and sisters. And just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For as I have often told you before now, tell you again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their God is their stomach. Their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies, prays the Lord, so that they will be like his glorious body, prays the Lord. In Philippians chapter 3 he begins, rejoice in your job, in your money, in your career, in your family, in your education. No it doesn't. It says rejoice in the Lord. Reach your confidence in the Lord, but then he gives us two ways in which joy can be sucked right out of us. He says beware, be careful. Legalism in verses 2 and 3 and license in verses 18 and 19.

Legalism is the teaching that says, yes you believe in Jesus, great, but you have to do this and do that and don't do this and don't do that and don't do this and don't do that and rules and rules and rules. In this case it was said you have to come to Jesus, but you have to also be circumcised. And I am really glad that that debate was settled in Acts 15, prays the Lord. It would have been really awkward at church. Come to Jesus, all the men walk out that door. That would have been really, really, really awkward. But these legalistic guys were saying, oh no you have to add, you have to add, you have to set a set of rules. Rules by the way that they decided. But the opposite, Paul talks about license. The people who had a self-indulgence, selfish desires, hey you're a Christian, hey Jesus has freed you, you can do whatever you want, act the way you want, sure He's given you the desires, He's given you the instincts, He's given you the appetites, sure God is a God of grace, you're going to be forgiven anyway. And Paul writes the book in Romans, Romans chapter 6, shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. Strong language, that's meganoito, very strong language. Just because God is a God of grace doesn't mean I do whatever the heck I want. I live according to the biblical mandate by the leading of the Holy Spirit through His Word for my flourishing and my protection. Both of these things will suck the life right out of you, will take your joy, dampen it. So he tells you, beware, watch out, a life that adds to what God says and a life that abuses what God says is not the life that God says. So according to chapter 3, what are the qualities, what are the characteristics for someone, a follower of Jesus Christ to live in so that we can live rejoicing? What are those characteristics that chapter 3 tells us that help us, a follower of Christ, to live a life rejoicing in the Lord?

First of all, we're going to see it in verse 10, to know Christ and to be more like Him. Notice how in verses 4 to 6, he starts putting, if anybody should boast about this, I have a lot to boast of. And then there's a, I was circumcised the eighth day, which by the way, it meant that his family were devout Jews because the circumcision of the eighth day was the time by the law that they said that was the perfect time to be circumcised. Paul did that. He says, I am an Israelite. He could follow his lineage right back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was from the tribe of Benjamin. Abraham and Judah were the two tribes that looked after Jerusalem. I mean, if there's something to be boastful about, this guy has it. He said he was a Hebrew of Hebrews in a world of Aramaic speakers and Greek speakers and Latin speakers. He was a Hebrew. He could boast he was a Pharisee according to the law. I mean, they were specific. Actually, then he says he was so devoted. He was a persecutor of the church. He didn't just sit in a synagogue, he persecuted those who said to follow Jesus. To follow the law, oh my goodness, he was faultless. If there was anybody in that society that could put confidence in anything, it was Paul. Yet Paul says, it's Scoobalon. Say that word, Scoobalon. His resume is impressive, his joy is important, his power is growing, his reputation is known, his money is accumulating, his voice is respected. This guy is the GOAT. This guy has, as young people say today, aura. And yet, I can't at all but Scoobalon. Dung, garbage, rubbish. Actually some commentators have said this is actually a vulgar term for animal excrement. This is how terrible he thinks his accolades are. Why? Because earthly credit doesn't impress God. Knowing God, becoming like Him does. Everything else is Scoobalon. Absolutely, we need to have the best businesses in the marketplace. We should absolutely do the best followers of Christ in our child's, picking up our child in a drive-thru line. We should be representing Christ and doing our best

in the schools, and your jobs, and our marriages. We want to give our best. But if my confidence is in anything but Christ, and that thing goes, so does my joy. Their markets go down, and so does our investments. That is unsettling. Someone else gets a promotion? Disappointing. You're working hard on your nutrition and your exercising, and then you stand on the scale, and it's discouraging. The other day the scale said to me, one person at a time, please. I find that joke funny every time I say it. Looking at the mirror and you're getting older is a struggle. Not passing the test or the exam with the grade that you wanted is irritating. Losing a loved one, the loss of a marriage or a relationship is heartbreaking and devastating. What are we putting our confidence in? What are the earthly accolades that Paul reminds us are scubalon? What is it that we're putting our identity in that if that goes, so does my joy? And Paul is not denying the pain, the turmoil, the suffering, but Paul is reminding us that in the middle of it, the joy of the Lord still can be my strength. I can still choose to rejoice in the Lord. I can still allow the fruit of the Spirit, the love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness. Which one have I missed? Patience. I wanted to miss that one. And self-control. How do I know and grow in Christ? What we're doing today, we gather together for fellowship, we come under the authority of the Word of God, we allow the Holy Spirit of God, we get into biblical community. Actually, this is a weekend where we start our summer small groups, get into a biblical community. All of those things help us know Him and grow to be like Him. That's the first thing we see. The second thing we see is that to walk in the freedom of Christ without abusing it. A characteristic of someone who wants to walk in the joy of the Lord is someone who walks in the freedom of Christ without abusing it. We are free. The Lord has freed us from sin and hell, but not so that we can do whatever the heck we want, so that we can live for Him. In my marketplace, in my business, in your church, in your church, in your church, in my marketplace, in my business, in your money, in your finances, in your school, in your walking into debt whilers, in your driving after church, in whatever it is, God has given us. that ability to steward His resources. And then we can learn not to give up.

Someone, a characteristic of someone who walks in the joy of the Lord, doesn't give up. They don't give up. Notice in the languages. Press, verse 13 and 14. Press on. Take hold. Forgetting what's behind. Straining towards what's ahead. Press towards the goal for the price. Don't give up. Keep going. Things are bad. Circumstances are bad. The doctor's report is bad. The kids are driving you nuts. The boss is doing this. Other people's are doing that. I press on to not walk away from Christ. Because of what He has done for me. When you live this way. When you live this way. And by the way, all of us, all of us on our journey. Some of people, I look at some Christians and I look at them and I'm like, oh my goodness, I want that attitude. I want that, I'm an idiot. Lord. But that's where He leads us to the fourth thing we see in this passage. Be a godly role model for others. He said, He said, follow me and follow people who do the same. Do you want to live a characteristic of the joy of the Lord? To rejoice in the Lord? Be a model of Christ-likeness so that other people can look at your life and say, hey, I want to be like him or her because they are following Jesus. Live in such a way.

And it's not perfection, this is not perfection. Paul wasn't perfect. But there's a striving, there's a pressing, there's a desiring, there's an adjusting our life. It's saying no to certain things. It's knowing in a business term how to deal with things so that, so that it's not just all about the bottom line. There's people involved. So be a godly example. And then he says, live as citizens of heaven. A characteristic of someone who can rejoice in the Lord. Someone who can live as a follower of Christ rejoicing in the Lord is someone who has heavenly minded with earthly use. Some of us are so earthly used we're not even thinking of it. We don't even realize. You know what, guys? Actually being with Jesus is better than what we're living today. Like actually, it doesn't matter how many homes, cars, jets, cars, whatever education, nothing compares to the knowledge of being with Jesus Christ. But for some reason, he says, you're going to represent me on earth so that other people will see my goodness in your life. So that they also will come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The challenge is how do we live as citizens of heaven on earth? The rights, the privileges, the responsibilities, the benefits. There's nothing wrong with wanting the best job. There's nothing wrong with wanting a great education and a career. There's nothing wrong with wanting resources and time. That's all great. But if your identity is in that, the knee blows out, the market crashes, the relationship breaks, the job goes to AI, then you go with it.

But when your joy is in the Lord, when your hope is in who he is and who he says you are, when your identity is in what God says, and that's why we study the word, that's why we do it in biblical community, that's why we gather, that's why we get together, that's why we encourage, because no matter what, Paul is not denying, remember where he is. He's not where he wants to be. He's about to be facing, he's facing a trial. Actually, a few years later, he does get executed for Jesus. So he's not talking about the earthly circumstances. His eyes are on, his hope is somewhere else. It doesn't deny the pain, the suffering, the anguish and the hurt, but realize that you're a follower of Christ, you're not alone. Why? Because the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is in you. Colossians 1.27, Christ in you, the hope of glory. At the end of last year, Alicia and I had the privilege to go to a nation that's actually on our news. It's only one-hour flight, but it's about an 80-year time travel. We arrived in Havana, Cuba. Cuba. Havana. Where we partnered with a church, Pastor Allain there, and they're planting churches. It's, it's, it's, it's, things are really bad. When we arrived, we were taken to the Dream Center. partner with them. There's a dream center, a building right in the middle of the city. And when we arrived, people were in the streets because there was no electricity. There was no electricity for cooking, no hot food,

no fans, no AC, no TV, no internet. That's restricted anyway, very restricted anyway. The whole city was in darkness. The whole city was in darkness. But as we came down the road, in the dream center, there was a light. We walked, even though the whole city was in darkness, when we arrived in the dream center, the fans were running. The instruments were being tuned up. Even though the whole city was in darkness, the dream center was lit up. And the only way the dream center was lit up is because they had a generator. And that generator produced the power. And the power inside was not dependent on the circumstances on the outside. Even though there was nothing happening out there, there was plenty happening in there. Even though people couldn't have food and fans and all that out there, the circumstances out there, in the dream center, there was light because of the generator. Because when you have the generator, circumstances out there don't affect the inside. The inside affects the outside. And that's exactly what Paul is telling us. When the Holy Spirit of God is in you, there's a generator in your soul that produces a joy that comes from God. That it doesn't matter what's happening on the outside. It doesn't affect the inside. Actually, the other way around, the inside affects the outside. And circumstances don't affect your walk, your driving, your cooking, your shopping, your driving, your talking, your serving, your loving, your praying, your working, your marketplace. Whatever that is, why? Because of the joy.

That only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. And then that generator, that Holy Spirit, it is frustrating. It's annoying. Injustice. Why? Why that person, not me? Hi them, not me? Why did that happen? Why the phone call? All those circumstances around. But when you have the generator of the Holy Spirit in your life, you allow the Holy Spirit to lead your life. And that which is on the inside will affect the outside. Not the other way around.